Curiosity, AI and reframing finance for the future

“What you’re doing today is going to look different in 18 months, but that is really exciting, and that creates a huge amount of opportunity.”

In a recent appearance on The Next Five podcast by FT Partner Studio, Natalie Douglas, CFO at Liberty Blume, joined host Tom Parker to reflect on the seismic shifts shaping business transformation, the evolving role of finance, and why curiosity will be the big differentiator over the next five years.

The shift from cost transformation to growth transformation

Natalie notes a clear shift in the conversations she’s having with Liberty Blume customers, with the emphasis changing from “doing more with less” to “how is this an enabler of growth?”

“It used to be about just cost transformation,” says Natalie. “But there is a real understanding that transformation is no longer about streamlining back office. It’s about enabling that business for growth.”

The shift underway is bigger than digital transformation alone – it’s a fundamental reframing of how businesses operate, make decisions and grow in an era defined by accelerating change. Liberty Blume’s new report, Transform to Outperform: The business case for change – based on insights from 300 UK business leaders – found that two thirds of companies surveyed are already making business change happen.

“The world is moving faster than ever before,” says Natalie. “Customer expectations are changing. Technology is changing. Regulation is changing. It is a very rapidly changing environment, and it is simple – If you are standing still, you are moving backwards.”

Redefining the role of the human in the process

For Natalie, businesses can no longer rely on yesterday’s methods. Instead, the question is how to build the agility, insight and capacity needed to grow going forward.

Technology has its role to play, but only when it is correctly layered with people in the process.

“We have to be conscious that doesn’t reduce the need for people,” Natalie says. “It just reframes what people are doing. You want technology to do the heavy lifting, but you still want people to do the thinking.”

“What you are trying to do with technology, this is where, again, it really comes back to harmony between the two. It enables them to drive more insight. It enables them to solve more problems. It enables them to drive more value, but again, it redefines the role of the human in the process. And I think to be successful in this, you have to take people on that journey, and you cannot see it as one or the other. You have to see it as harmony.”

Curiosity as the cultural accelerator

As automation takes on more repetitive work, people have more time and cognitive space to challenge, interpret and solve problems — the work only humans can do. But this harmony doesn’t happen automatically. Natalie believes culture is the differentiator.
“We want to foster a culture of curiosity, because that curiosity is what’s going to enable that opportunity for people,” she says.

The finance function offers a clear example of what this evolution looks like in practice. Technology has transformed not just what teams can do, but how they spend their time. “I no longer spend my time [on data cleansing],” Natalie says. “I now spend my time asking: ‘What does this tell me, and what can I do with it? And how does this drive action?’”

This marks a shift from reporting to real partnership. As Natalie puts it, “My role has fundamentally shifted to be a strategic business partner to the organization, rather than someone reporting in the numbers.”

This evolution signals a finance function that is not just supporting the business – but actively shaping its future direction.